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A Short, Sharp Shock Audiobook
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(3.04) - 182 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Kim Stanley Robinson, award-winning author of the bestselling trilogy Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars, was called “a literary landscape artist, creating breathtaking vistas” by the Detroit Metro News. Now he confirms his reputation for brilliance and for the unexpected in this luminous short work.
A man tumbles through wild surf, half drowned, to collapse on a moonlit beach. When he regains consciousness, he has no memory of who he is or where he came from. He knows only that the woman who washed ashore with him has disappeared sometime in the night and that he has awakened in a surreal landscape of savage beauty—a mysterious watery world encircled by a thin spine of land. Aided by strange tribesmen, he journeys to the cove of the spine kings, a brutal race that has enslaved the woman and several of the tribesmen. That is only the beginning of his quest, as he struggles to find her identity in this wondrous and cruel land—and seeks out the woman whose hold on his imagination is both unfathomable and unshakable.
Haunting and lyrical, filled with uncommon beauty and terrible peril, A Short, Sharp Shock is an ambitious and enthralling story by one of science fiction’s most respected talents.
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"This book is a trip. It is a fantasy, it takes you to another world that has one continuous ring of land circling an ocean world. There is a jungle, a man who does not know how he got there, a young woman he helps. A great way to forget current concerns."
— Graham (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“The novels and short stories of Kim Stanley Robinson constitute one of the most impressive bodies of work in modern science fiction.”
— New York Times -
“Kim Stanley Robinson, justly famous for his science fiction, has created a mesmerizing fantasy work in A Short, Sharp Shock…Robinson’s imagination is far-ranging and he has a pointed way with words…Robinson’s evocation of pain is unforgettable. A Short, Sharp Shock is guaranteed to haunt the reader for a long time.”
— Amazon.com, editorial review
Awards
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Finalist for the 1991 Hugo Award for Best Novella
A Short, Sharp Shock Listener Reviews
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" An odd read with no closure but some lovely imagery. "
— Kaylynn, 7/28/2013 -
" On a metaphorical level, this short book works and is reminiscent of some medieval literary works. The beautiful language is also satisfying. As a story, though, I found it somewhat frustrating because the main story question is never answered. "
— Shauna, 4/6/2013 -
" I thought this was pretty good. "
— Thomas, 1/27/2013 -
" This is a weird one for Kim Stanley Robinson. It is not like his usual works, but it was an interesting read. "
— Jessica, 1/8/2013 -
" One of my very favorite books! "
— Rachel, 1/7/2013 -
" This was perhaps the most creative work of fiction I have ever read. Loved it. "
— Greg, 4/12/2012
About Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson is a bestselling author and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. He is the author of more than twenty books, including the bestselling Mars trilogy and the critically acclaimed Forty Signs of Rain, The Years of Rice and Salt, and 2312. In 2008, he was named a “Hero of the Environment” by Time magazine, and he works with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute. For his book Antarctica, he was sent to the Antarctic by the US National Science Foundation as part of their Antarctic Artists and Writers’ Program.
About Richard Powers
Richard Powers has published thirteen novels. He is a MacArthur Fellow and received the National Book Award. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory, and Bewilderment was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.